Brightest pupils failed by state comprehensives - Ofsted

State comprehensives are systematically failing the brightest children by
staging mixed-ability lessons, setting mediocre homework tasks and refusing
to push pupils towards top universities, according to a major inquiry by
Ofsted.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, said that bright pupils should be given the same status as those with special needs.Photo: GEOFF PUGH

In a damning report, inspectors warned that more than 65,000 of England’s most able schoolchildren ware falling far short of their potential.

Just a third of pupils considered high-fliers at the age of 11 gained A grades in English and maths after being taught in state comprehensives. This compared with around 60 per cent of those sent to academically-selective grammar schools, it emerged.

The watchdog said it was “shocking” that large numbers of teachers had “not even identified who their most able pupils were”.

According to figures, bright children were well taught in just a fifth of mixed-ability lessons observed by inspectors, even though they were extensively employed by schools.

Most teachers in these classes aimed tasks at low and average pupils and set homework that was “insufficiently challenging”, it was claimed.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, said that all secondary schools should separate children into ability sets for most subjects from the age of 11, unless they can categorically prove that bright pupils work well in mixed lessons.

The report also said that most schools lacked the expertise to help children apply to leading Russell Group universities, with some teachers even claiming it was not “appropriate to push students towards such universities”.

The conclusions come just days after the Government announced a major overhaul of GCSEs, with more rigorous subject syllabuses, tougher exams and the abolition of coursework.

David Cameron warned that the reforms were needed because the education establishment had become “increasingly comfortable with failure".

In a series of recommendations, the watchdog said that inspectors would routinely check that schools are identifying and tailoring work towards gifted pupils, with comprehensives being marked down for failing to do so.

Schools should outline whether children are on track to “achieve as well as they should” in exams as part of annual report cards sent home to parents, Ofsted said.

The Department for Education was also ordered to make greater use of new-style league tables that rank schools by the number of pupils who progress on to Oxford, Cambridge and other Russell Group universities.

Last night, one teachers' leader condemned the report, branding it an "ideological" attack on the education system.

But Sir Michael insisted that the achievement of bright pupils in comprehensive schools should be an issue of “national concern”, with children performing worse than peers in many other developed countries.

He insisted the report should not be read as an endorsement of grammar schools, but added: "Too many non-selective schools are failing to nurture scholastic excellence. While the best of these schools provide excellent opportunities, many of our most able students receive mediocre provision.

"Put simply, they are not doing well enough because their secondary schools fail to challenge and support them sufficiently from the beginning.

“I believe the term ‘special needs’ should be as relevant to the most able as it is to those who require support for their learning difficulties."

Currently, around 3 million children are taught in state comprehensives.

According to figures, 65 per cent of comprehensive pupils – 65,000 – who gained elite “Level 5” scores in English and maths tests at the age of 11 failed to gain A* or A grades in GCSEs five years later. Of those, 27,000 failed to even score B grades.

The report – based on an inspection of more than 2,300 lessons in 41 state comprehensives – found that teaching was “insufficiently focused on the needs of the most able”.

Around a third of schools taught pupils “mainly in mixed ability groups” throughout the first three years of secondary education, while many others only put pupils into sets for some lessons.

The most able pupils “were not making the progress of which they were capable” in around 40 per cent of schools, Ofsted said.

School work was “pitched at the middle and did not extend the most able,” inspectors warned, adding: “Students said too much homework was insufficiently challenging; it failed to interest them, extend their thinking or develop their skills”.

Sir Michael said: “Soberingly, many students simply became used to performing at a lower level than they were capable of and this was too readily accepted by teachers.”

A DfE spokesman said: “Secondary schools must ensure all their pupils – including their brightest – fulfil their potential. That’s why we are introducing a more demanding and rigorous curriculum, toughening up GCSEs and getting universities involved in A-levels."

But Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, said: “Yet again the teaching profession and parents will be deeply dismayed to see another ideological report condemning our education system.

“The findings appear to be based on the flimsiest of research evidence."

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “The government's league table culture deserves a measure of the blame for this situation. For too long, schools have been forced into the middle ground."